CANAL TRIP. Places along the way.

Tourist Season is over. Most of France seems to have shut up shop. There are A Vendre ( for sale) and A Louer (for rent) signs everywhere. We have trouble buying supplies and Don even paid the outrageous sum of 4.5euros for the last half a baguette of bread, the only bit left in the shop. We spent the first night at Buzet sur Baise where we tied up next to boat with Australians from Perth on board. The second night we moored at Bout de la Cote whose claim to fame was a moose in the bushes. Not sure if it was stuffed or wooden and it was too dark to get a photo of it.

We went for a 6 kilometre ride along a small road that was well used by trucks and lorries to a forgettable town that was closed. When we returned to the boat we found a cafe for beers and chips, well earned.

 

This is, I think, Lavardac, where we were able to do some shopping. There is something to be said for supermarkets where you can get everything in one place. They didn't have one here!

Above: I do like this line of trees.

Below: This picture is from the museum of corkscrews, which interestingly enough we didn't go to. At Lavardac there is a museum of bees that Katy wanted to visit. Don being always happy to practise his language skills, walked up to a policeman and asked him “Ou est la musee de bouchons?” To which he got the surprising reply that it was about 20 kilometres away! The policeman had allowed for Don being an English speaker and had corrected 'bouchon'' (cork) to 'tirebouchon' (corkscrew) and given him directions to the nearest corkscrew museum. Only in France! Meanwhile we had learnt from the closed tourist information booth window that the word for bee is 'abeille' and that that particular museum is closed until the tourist season starts again sometime next year.

There are lots of quaint windows. Many are painted a restful jacaranda blue. This one was in Vianne. This town was also closed except for a few people attending a funeral. We spent time choosing our lunch from a menu ouside a restaurant that had people in it, that looked open, but the people were the owners and they waved us away. Closed!

The next few are of Nerac.

Don was relieved to find a place which wasn't “completely moribund”,where he could sit in the sun and have a beer and use wifi.

Above: We found another good place the next day, at Condom.

Condom is famous for….wait for it……the Three Musketeers. Don is making a fourth here. It is also a good place to buy armagnac, being the capital city of Armagnac. Apparently it has learnt that English speakers find its name quaint and has learnt to secure its street signs.

We finished our canal trip at Valence sur Baise. Here we took the bikes off the boat and cycled to the nearby Abbaye de Flaran, which houses a wonderful art collection including some lovely bronze sculptures by Dali.

 

There was another exhibition in another part of the abbey.

 

 

I liked this work by Jan Fabre, who also wrote the poem that goes with it.

I have made a translation from the French.

“Your brain is the fruit

Of millions upon miliions of years

Of attempts and mistakes

Of wanting but not being able

Of continuing to try even so

Of not giving up

Your brain itself is a world

I too desire such a brain.”

 

Cycling back from the abbey we found a little inn with a restaurant and as it was still Kate's birthday we decided to walk back later for dinner. Dressed in our cleanest dirty clothes off we went. We had to turn rather a blind corner on a road that was very narrow due to some large trees. The locals overcame the problem in true Gallic style. Rather than cut down the trees they put up a sign “Trees!”

 

It was a good night out.

 

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